This occurs when a Merchant Advice Code (MAC) indicates that the merchant/card combination should be blocked for the current transaction or future attempts.

This page explains how to read and interpret these fields in PayHost responses.

Overview

When a transaction is blocked due to risk rules, the response will include a RiskDetails element containing:

MerchantAdviceCode (MAC)
BlockStatus information

No changes are required to your payment requests.
Your integration only needs to read these additional response elements.

Response Elements

RiskDetails

Contains the MAC code returned by the bank and details about the block applied.

Fields

Field	Description	Required	Type
MerchantAdviceCode	Code received from the bank indicating the reason for the block	Yes	String
BlockStatus	Information about whether the block is permanent or temporary	Yes	RiskBlockStatusType

RiskBlockStatus

Provides details about the duration of the block.

Fields

Field	Description	Required	Type	Example
Permanent	Indicates whether the merchant/card combination is permanently blocked	Yes	Boolean	false
UntilDate	Date when the block will be lifted (if temporary)	Optional	DateTime	2025-02-16T09:13:31.000+02:00

If the block is permanent, the UntilDate field will not be present.

Merchant Advice Codes (MAC)

The MerchantAdviceCode returned in the RiskDetails element indicates the recommended action the merchant should take when a transaction is declined or blocked.

Merchant Advice Code	Description	Possible Reason	Recommended Action
01	Updated information needed	Expired card, account upgrade, or portfolio conversion	Obtain updated account information before the next billing cycle
02	Try again later	Over credit limit or insufficient funds	Retry the transaction after 72 hours
03	Do not try again	Account closed or fraudulent activity	Request another payment method from the customer
04	Transaction not supported	SLI or cryptographic data issue	Resubmit the transaction with corrected information
*21	Stop recurring payment requests	Cardholder cancelled agreement	Do not retry this payment
24	Retry after 1 hour	Credit limit issues or insufficient funds	Retry after 1 hour
25	Retry after 24 hours	Credit limit issues or insufficient funds	Retry after 24 hours
26	Retry after 2 days	Credit limit issues or insufficient funds	Retry after 2 days
27	Retry after 4 days	Credit limit issues or insufficient funds	Retry after 4 days
28	Retry after 6 days	Credit limit issues or insufficient funds	Retry after 6 days
29	Retry after 8 days	Credit limit issues or insufficient funds	Retry after 8 days
30	Retry after 10 days	Credit limit issues or insufficient funds	Retry after 10 days
40	Non reloadable prepaid card	Issuer recognized a consumer non reloadable prepaid card was used	No action required
41	Single use virtual card number	Issuer recognized a consumer single use virtual card number was used	No action required
42	Sanctions scoring service	Mastercard refused the transaction due to a sanctions match	No action required
43	Consumer multi use virtual card number	Transaction carried out using a consumer multi use virtual card number	No action required

Example CardPaymentResponse (Risk Blocked)

<ns2:RiskDetails>
  <ns2:MerchantAdviceCode>2</ns2:MerchantAdviceCode>
  <ns2:BlockStatus>
    <ns2:Permanent>false</ns2:Permanent>
    <ns2:UntilDate>2025-02-16T09:13:31.000+02:00</ns2:UntilDate>
  </ns2:BlockStatus>
</ns2:RiskDetails>